You will be the biggest beneficiary of this electric car. So, why not let you be part of something historical (no one has ever crowd-funded a car before) and get recognized for making this world a better place?

How can I help and/or create a job for myself?

In the political world, there are ?bundlers? ? people who put together donors for a campaign. We are conducting a campaign ? a campaign to create a freer, healthier world through electrifying transportation in affordably fun way that benefits both the user and the world as a whole. We need ?bundlers? ? people who have influence, people who believe in this mission, or people who have the vision to see how this could help their company, or other companies, achieve their goals of making this world a more sustainable place. You might want to be a ?bundler? just because you have the ability and desire to make this world a better place and have the time and contacts to make something happen ... you might want to be a ?bundler? because you see a business opportunity for yourself to create a nice sales job ... or, you might want to be one of our limited number of dealers and want to earn your way to that spot with 1,000, or even 10,000, reservations. If this is of interest to you, tell us more about yourself and how you would like to approach this at: bundler@myersmotors.com.

Or, perhaps you have another talent and you want to get involved. Tell us how you would like to be involved (marketing, social media, intern, etc.). Tell us what you aim to accomplish and how you would like to be compensated for what you accomplish once Myers Motors is producing vehicles ... and we will get back to you. To apply for this program, please contact us at: energizer@myersmotors.com.

What is the most economical new car to own?

The most economical vehicle to operate is an electric vehicle because the cost of fuel is so low --- something like 80% less than the cost of driving on petroleum products. The problem with electric cars in general has been that the premium price needed to purchase an electric car has typically resulted in the electric car not saving the buyer money until the fifth year or longer. Myers Motors exists to build an electric car that costs the same or less than a gasoline-powered car so that you can get operating cost-savings from day one.

What is the best all-around car to own?

The most versatile vehicle to own is a petroleum-powered vehicle because they typically seat four to seven people, are very efficient at taking you anywhere you can drive, have fast fueling capabilities that are everywhere (gasoline stations), and are available in prices starting in the mid-teens. A high-end electric vehicle fills this bill as well ... but for most people, $70,000 to $100,000 for a high-end electric car is not feasible.

Why would I want to own an electric car if a petroleum-powered car is more versatile?

Electric vehicles are not on par with petroleum-powered vehicles when it comes to the combination of price, performance (e.g., range before fill-ups), and properties (e.g., seating capacity). On the other hand, electric cars are much better at certain other things: acceleration, lower operating cost, greater energy efficiency, the freedom and world peace that comes from reducing our dependence on oil, and, of course, a more sustainable form of transportation in terms of cleaner, healthier air. The trick is to get the advantages of electric vehicles while also getting the advantages of the petroleum-powered vehicles.

Where does an electric car do better than a petroleum-powered vehicle?

In this 21st Century in America, there are actually more vehicles on the road than there are drivers for those vehicles. The average family owns two or more cars. And, the vast majority of driving is local driving: specifically, 80% of all miles driven by cars are driven in less than 60-mile daily increments. The vast majority of driving is NOT long-distance driving or cross-country driving. And, surprisingly, only 13% of all miles driven involve three or more people in the vehicle. Interestingly enough, one and two people driving in a vehicle less than 60 miles in a day is the sweet spot for where electric vehicles can outperform petroleum-powered in terms of price, performance, sustainability, freedom from oil, healthier air, etc.

How do I get the advantages of both petroleum and electricity?

By using your electric vehicle for the 80% of all driving where an electric vehicle outperforms a petroleum-powered vehicle and using a petroleum-powered vehicle for the 20% of driving where it outperforms an electric vehicle. Since most families own two or more cars, one electric vehicle and one petroleum-powered vehicle will provide the least-cost, highest energy efficiency, healthiest air, and most freedom-from-the-pump solution.

Why a one-seat electric car?

The overall champion for cost of ownership, energy efficiency, and sustainability is the one-seat electric vehicle. A narrower vehicle helps reduce aerodynamic drag, which, at highway speeds, accounts for up to 80% of the energy the vehicle uses (cutting through the air). A lighter weight vehicle helps reduce the energy needed for stop and go traffic conditions. About 2/3rds of all driving – including 90% of commuting – is comprised of just one person in the vehicle.

How practical is a one-seat electric car?

The average family owns 2.5 cars. The single person car is the ½ car. It fully charges to a practical 60-mile range overnight from a standard 120-volt outlet. Its seating capacity handles about 2/3rds of all the trips you are going to make. Its range handles about 80% of all your driving needs. And its cost is about ½ that of the average new car/truck/SUV purchased in America.

How about a range extender so that I never have to worry about running out of juice?

The Myers Motors single-seat electric car comes with its own range-extender: the ability to be charged from any 120-volt outlet. Everywhere you go, whether it is work, or a store, or a school – there is almost always a 120-volt outlet that you can plug into. You could go to all the trouble and expense of putting a petroleum-powered range extender in the vehicle, like they did with the $41,000 Chevy Volt, or you could use the range extender that others have paid for: 120-volt outlets. A 60-mile range plus the ability to charge from 120-volt outlets is all you really need – to test this out, just only use one of your family’s cars to go a maximum of 60 miles per day for a month and see how that works out for you. You might have to switch cars once or twice in a month, but you will soon see that you will have all the range and seating capacity you need for your ½ car that is also electric.

What if I get stuck in a traffic jam?

There are two nice things about driving an electric vehicle in this respect: One is that in most states an EV is allowed in the carpool lanes, which reduces your chances of getting stuck in traffic. The other nice thing is that when an electric vehicle is stopped (or coasting), its “engine” is not running and so you are not using energy – except for running your music or air conditioner. And, being realistic about it, how often have you gotten stuck in a traffic jam in your gas car and run out of fuel?

How far can I drive every day by just plugging in to a 120-volt outlet?

If you are like most people, you drive your car to work, maybe go out for lunch, meaning your car sits for about 8 hours at work. If your place of work is part of the “EVs Everywhere” program, you will be able to charge your vehicle at work during those 8 hours. If you are like most people, by the time you get done driving for the day, you have about 12 hours from the time you stop driving until you start driving the next morning: this means your vehicle will be conveniently sitting in your garage or by your house charging its batteries while you are recharging yourself with a good nights sleep. In short, you will have 10 to 12 to 20 or more hours per day that your electric car can be charged from a standard 120-volt outlet.

120 Volt Charging Time

100 MPGe

200 MPGe

8 hours

24 miles

48 miles

12 hours

36 miles

72 miles

20 hours

60 miles

120 miles

This chart illustrates the impact that a vehicle’s energy efficiency has on charging times: if the energy efficiency of the vehicle is high enough, standard 120-volt chargers are sufficient for the vast majority of driving that we do on a daily basis.

Everyone else is talking about fast charging from 240-volt and 480-volt outlets and you are emphasizing “slow” charging from 120-volt outlets. Why?

Because we are building highly energy efficient electric cars to fit what you want.
Your goal is affordable, practical, sustainable, fun to drive and be seen in, electric vehicles. By subtracting out the weight that we don’t often use for most of our driving, we create the ability for you to drive a highly energy efficient electric vehicle, for which a standard 120-volt outlet is sufficient. Everyone else is building electric cars to handle all the driving duties of a petroleum-powered car: by building electric cars for the 13% of all travel that involves three or more people and to be able to take cross-country trips, the size and weight and cost increases while the energy efficiency decreases and the result is they need 1,000,000 fast charging stations to make their EVs fit their model of how the world of transportation should look. This is the model that has resulted in high battery costs, manufacturer losses sustained because they cannot sell their EVs at a profit, and $10s of billions of dollars needing to be spent electrical infrastructure improvements to build out and supply power to a fast charging national network of 240-volt and 480-volt outlets.

Is 120-volt charging better?

Interestingly, a Department of Energy study from a few years back stated that our nation’s electrical system could charge about 200 million electric cars to 40 miles range without adding any electrical generation, transmission, or distribution infrastructure. The caveat was that was true only if all 200 million electric cars were charged, overnight, from standard 120-volt outlets.

Surprisingly enough, there are only about 130 million cars in the U.S. (and another 100 million light trucks and SUVs). By building electric cars to fit how we drive, not only can we can drive down the costs of building and owning and driving an electric car, but we can also eliminate the need to spend $10s of billions of dollars that no one has to set up and supply energy to 1,000,000 fast charging stations around the country. The avoidance of this cost makes a lot of sense since studies of how people use their EVs show that about 85% of all electric cars are charged at home, even in areas with public charging.

We emphasize 120-volt charging because the largest part of U.S. driving is driving for which 120-volt outlets are sufficient – so why try to complicate matters when what already exists can be more fully utilized at less societal cost for a more sustainable future?

Are you against 240-volt and 480-volt and other fast charging stations?

As long as we don’t have to pay for them, we are not at all opposed to the proliferation of fast chargers. The more charging stations there are, the smaller the battery packs really need to be to do most of the driving that most of us do – which will, in effect, help reduce the cost of an electric car so that more people can afford to purchase an electric car to clean up our air, reduce our total cost of transportation, and to help stop oil imports. The real issue we have with fast chargers is the cost to society: Tesla, however, has shown how to create cross-country EV traffic that doesn’t put a burden on utility companies and that doesn’t put a burden on society to pay for the fast charging infrastructure. It is a model every automaker could follow. Myers Motors, however, chooses to avoid the cost of fast charging stations altogether by building electric cars that fit most of how we drive – we leave it to Tesla and the other automakers to build EVs for that 13% to 20% of driving that our vehicles won’t do.

I don’t hear or see anyone else building one and two passenger vehicles with a 60 mile battery range/100 mile daily range --- are you sure you are on the right track?

Robert Q. Riley, author, entrepreneur, and vehicle builder, wrote a book called, “Alternative Cars in the 21st Century: A New Personal Transportation Paradigm.” In this book, on page 45, he says,

“Overweight and oversize cars and chronic underutilization of vehicles are the two most wasteful habits affecting the world’s consumption of transportation energy, of which about 95 percent comes from petroleum. Using vehicles that fit driving patterns would greatly improve vehicle utilization and significantly reduce the energy intensity of personal transportation.” (emphasis ours)

And another favorite quote of ours that Bob made (p. 42) is this:

“On the simplest level, when a 1,600-kg (3,500-lb) machine transports an 80-kg (175-lb) occupant on a local trip to the market, the available energy pie is divided so approximately 95 percent gets the car to the market and the remaining 5 percent gets the occupant there.”

Will you ever build a two-seat electric car?

The single seat car’s time has come! Once people experience the fun and freedom and financial savings of driving a vehicle built just for them, we expect the demand for these vehicles will skyrocket. That will keep us busy for a long time to come. On the other hand, a two-person vehicle does have its advantages in that, while it is less energy efficient and bigger and heavier and will cost more, it has the advantage of also having greater versatility. So, yes, we do see ourselves following up the single seat car with a two-seat car.

Will you ever build a four- or five- seat electric car?

Do you eat at an all-you-can-eat buffet every day? Only 13% of all travel consists of three (3) or more people in a car – there are over 240 million vehicles in the U.S., probably 99% of which seat at least four people. There is no dearth of big, heavy vehicles clogging up our highways and taking up space in our parking decks and garages. What is missing are electric vehicles and what is missing are energy efficient electric vehicles that will help to unclog our highways and parking lots and garages. Myers Motors exists to supply what is needed – and what is not available anywhere else. So, no, we don’t ever see ourselves as building anything bigger than a two-person vehicle.

Wouldn’t it be nice to average 200 mpg per person as you drive?

If you were driving a car/truck/SUV that gets 25 mpg, you would have to drive it with 7 people plus yourself in order for you to average 200 mpg per person. Or, if you had a 50-mpg car, in order to average 200 mpg per person, you would need to always drive it with four people in the vehicle. Or, you could keep driving like you drive most of the time, that is, with just you in the car, and, if that car were a single seat, electric, Myers Motors, commuter car, you could average around 200 mpg per person. By fitting your car to you and your driving needs, you can indeed reach the equivalent of 200 mpg. And, if you happen to be located in Chicago, where nighttime electricity rates are as low as $0.038/kWh, you can drive well over 7,000 miles on $50 worth of electricity.

What are the chances this car will be real?

Many people failed to climb Mt. Everest – then came Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing – and now many people have climbed to the top of the world. Many people failed to run a four-minute mile – then came Roger Bannister – and now many people have broken through this time/speed barrier. Many people failed to build sustainable (electric) car companies – then came Elon Musk. This trail has already been blazed– Myers Motors believes it can walk this trail.

In the whole scheme of things, the amount of money needed to bring this car to market is pocket change to many people and corporations that want to see a better world. The small amount of money needed, the hundreds of well-paying manufacturing jobs that can be created, and promotional value of an electric car plant near a large city makes this very attractive to a large metropolitan area. And, the amount of money needed to bring this car to life is even within the realm of possibility to crowd fund. Because the amount of money needed to bring this vehicle to life is so small (relatively speaking) and because the vehicle is practical, fun to drive, and makes more financial sense than any other car on the road, we believe this vehicle has a very high probability of making it to market. And your “vote” makes it that much more of a likely reality. If you want to be part of creating an electric future, sign up to be part of this historic opportunity.

Is this a guaranteed price?

Because we started off this nine (9) year journey by developing the vehicle’s technical guts and low-capital cost manufacturing methodologies, we feel confident that we have correctly priced the vehicle to create a sustainable company. This is what allows us to guarantee the pricing to the first 10,000 buyers.

When can I expect to receive my zippy personal electric vehicle?

It is about a two-year process to build a car from scratch, given that we already have a reliable electric drive system as our foundation. It is most likely that deliveries will begin sometime in 2016.

Does the date of my placing my deposit affect my place in line for deliveries?

Absolutely. The sooner you place your deposit, the higher up on the reservations list you will be. The two other factors that will affect your place in line are the size of your deposit and if you are part of the crowd-funding depositor group. I want to secure my place in line today.

How environmentally friendly are electric vehicles?

Someone ran an ad showing an EV dragging a coal-burning smokestack behind it. As with much of the anti-EV propaganda, there is a partial truth involved to this picture. The full truth is that purpose-built electric vehicles that run on electricity that is 100% derived from coal are still cleaner than 50-mpg gasoline-powered cars that are on the road today. The full truth is that not all electricity is derived from coal – in 2012, less than 40% of U.S. electric was derived from coal. The full truth is that most of U.S. electricity is derived from fuels other than coal that are also cleaner than coal – and some of our electricity is derived from the sun and wind, which results in zero emissions. How environmentally friendly are electric vehicles? They are the most environmentally friendly types of vehicles in the marketplace today ... and will be for the foreseeable future.

What if a better battery technology comes along?

A Myers Motors electric vehicle is designed to fit many, but not all, of your lifestyle transportation needs. Even should the battery capacity double in the next 10 years, that won’t really matter to you because you are not likely to be using all the battery capacity that exists in your 60-mile battery range/100+ daily range electric car. And if you want the latest and greatest battery pack, you will most be able to find someone who’s driving needs fits your “old” battery pack so that you can you’re your “old” pack to them and upgrade to a “new” battery pack.

In what colors will this vehicle be available?

Any color you want. We are all about making this vehicle fit you. We are all about a personalized interior. We are all about a personalized exterior. We are all about you.

The fun thing with the Sparrow/NmG is that instead of the traditional vehicle colors that just blend into the background, people chose to express themselves with purples, polka-dots, lime greens, oranges, yellows, reds, stripes and even the U.S. flag. Not only will these bolder color choices help increase your visibility to others, but they let you be you ? unleashing that inner fire of creativity burning in your soul.

As we begin outlining personalization options, we will start taking your color preferences. We see this as occurring in mid-2014.

Management guru Peter Drucker once said that “if you want to predict the future, create it.”

Are you interested in creating a world where 40% to 60% to 80% of all cars on the road are electric – in your lifetime? If you see this as a better future than another 100 years of dependence on oil, then today is your chance to help create that future. Ready to start creating the future?

Do you have technology, corporate contacts, social media skills, or anything else that you feel would be useful or helpful in creating this future?

Let us know what you would like to do and how you could help and how you would like to be compensated once your ideas/work/help turns into revenue for Myers Motors. Depending on volume and your idea, it will take a few days to get back to you, but we will get back to you. Contact us at: iwanttohelp@myersmotors.com, or, if you are an accredited investor and are interested in investing, you can contact us at: invest@myersmotors.com.